The event, which kicked off in Pretoria on Saturday, will cover some 2 000 km before eventually finishing at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on October first.
Each solar cars typically weighs around 200 kg and come up to knee height, with the distinctive solar panel arrays wrapped over the top of the vehicle. The first stage from Pretoria to Kroonstad was however not without its challenges with a number of teams, University of Johannesburg, Near-East University in Northern Cyprus and Anadolu in Turkey, failing pre-stage scrutineering.
RESULTS: Day 1
Challenger class:
- Nuon solar team: 707 km RECORD BROKEN (Tokai 2012: 658 km)
- MegaLux and Tokai tied at 633 km
- North-West University: 560 RECORD BROKEN (UKZN 2012: 300 km)
- Tshwane University of Technology: 289 km
- Maragon Olympus: 266.9 km
Cruiser class:
Lodz Solar Car: 266.9 km
Sustainability class:
ZingBug: 28.5 km
RESULTS: DAY 2
The second day also produced drama with initial leaders Nuon clipping a curb in a control area, damaging their car and losing the overall lead to tie with Tokai.
Day one non-starters University of Johannesburg and Near-East University of Northern Cyprus managed to get their campaign started, while Anadolu were again unable to pass scrutineering.
Challenger class:
- Nuon and Tokai solar teams tied at 685.7 km
- GAMF, MegaLux: 611.9 km
- North-West University: 611.0 RECORD BROKEN (NWU 2016: 560 km)
- Tshwane University of Technology: 301.9 km
- Near East University: 301.5 km
- Maragon Olympus: 190.4 km
- University of Johannesburg: 70 km
Cruiser class:
Lodz Solar Car: 464.3 km
Sustainability class:
ZingBug: 93 km
Day three on Monday took competitors from Bloemfontein via Edenburg to the Gariep Dam
